EGG-NOG TEA LATTE

Create a fabulous festive drink by mixing tea with egg nog. Enjoy it with brunch, as an after-dinner drink, or at any festive gathering. Serve in heatproof brandy snifters, latté bowls or generous sized mugs.

When you learn how to combine the right tea with egg nog, it can dramatically enhance the taste of the egg nog. By diluting the egg nog with tea, you’re also reducing calories. AND best of all – it can taste even yummier!

For many of you (myself included) egg nog on its own can be too sweet and rich, but by adding tea you’re cutting back on those elements, while adding fabulous flavours that can be complimentary. If you’re still reluctant to try egg nog, I’ve created a dairy-free pecan egg-nog recipe that has turned many into egg-nog lovers. I’m sharing the recipe with you here as well…

Egg Nog Tea Latte

To make 1 cup egg-nog tea latte, use 1 tsp. loose tea or 1 of our premium teabags* and 1/2 cup water to brew the tea, instead of 1 cup water. When the tea has finished steeping, mix with equal parts of your favourite heated egg nog. *Please note, our fresh premium quality organic teabags and loose teas are more flavourful than other brands, so you need less per serving than with other teas. If you are not using our tea in this recipe, you’ll need to increase the quantity of tea.

Optional: add 1-2 oz bourbon, whisky or rum per cup of tea-nog.

Home-made Pecan Nog Recipe

I find store-bought egg nog to be too rich and too sweet, and it also usually contains artificial flavours and chemicals that I prefer to avoid. I decided to create a dairy-free alternative that didn’t taste like a sacrifice and after much recipe testing, I settled on pecans because of their nutty, creamy, buttery taste. While I love making almond, cashew and walnut milks, I found that the pecans make the best “nog” hands-down.

To make: Place 1 cup pecans in bowl and cover with 1.5 cups cold water. Refrigerate for 6-12 hrs. Don’t skip this step because pre-soaking makes a huge difference in terms of how creamy and thick the drink gets. The good news is that this wait is the hardest part- the rest of this recipe is easy! After soaking, discard the soak water and rinse pecans. Place pecans in heatproof blender jug. Add 1 tbsp. maple syrup or brown sugar, a pinch of salt & 1/4 tsp. nutmeg.

Separately brew 4 cups of any of these teas double strength – Chocolate Panda, Spicy Mandarin, Imperial Earl Grey, London Fog, Herbal Chai,Express Chai, Silk Road Chai or Vanilla Plantation. When the tea has finished steeping strain and add to blender. To make this as a plain pecan eggnog (without the tea), add 4 cups boiling water instead of tea. Tightly secure the blender lid before turning it on. Turn blender on, slowly increasing speed for about 30 seconds, until at max. Blend for 2-3 min to extract as much flavour and creaminess from the pecans. At this point it’s very thick, but there is a slightly granular quality to it because of the “nut meal” remaining in the drink (which is also very good for you!). I like it as is, but if you want the texture to become finer and more velvety, strain through a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer. Now serve as is (hot) and add rum. Or refrigerate to cool and serve cold if you like it that way.

TIPS:
-Always use hot liquid in this recipe instead of cold, because the heat makes the pecans taste nuttier.
-Add more water or brewed tea to adjust the thickness of the nog.
-Increase or decrease maple syrup, sugar or nutmeg to adjust the sweetness to your liking.
-Always start with high quality ingredients. If the pecans or nutmeg are stale this won’t taste as good!
-Keep the ratio of tea to egg nog about equal parts – believe it or not, it actually tastes creamier and better when you don’t use too much egg nog!